32' @ 17 seconds W

The nearshore, storm driven west swell peaked this morning at 7AM. Surges occurred well through the high tide but there was no serious flooding at the most vulnerable locations. While the district received copious amounts of rainfall (over ten inches in less than 24-hours in the mountains) the drought parched land is so thirsty there was no small creek or river flooding, even though the NWS issued all the warnings. All the low lying beach roads were closed as per usual during big surf events. But the real story was near hurricane force winds.

Anything that wasn't organically attached or tied on to any vegetation was stripped off by the wind. Debris from non-native eucalyptus (which are everywhere) was everywhere, clogging the storm drains and blanketing the roads with leaves, bark and branches.

The sleepy off-season beach towns looked like the North Shore with 12 foot beachbreak and some almost rideable looking A-frame peaks steaming into shore. 25 foot set waves moving enough energy across the bay to light NYC for a week passed by in regular intervals sending clouds of sea spray into the air.

The swell is starting to back down as storm number three moves across the area. La Nina is in control, forcing the storms that are charging across the north pacific to drop down into NorCal and SoCal before dying off inland. It looks like this entire coming week will be dotted with storm surf and inclement weather. If there is surf it could be pretty messy. After all this rain and runoff it will be prudent to let things settle and clear to avoid lots of debris in the water and runoff of hazardous chemicals and bacterial effluents.

I toured the area this morning by vehicle and on foot for a few hours and took pics. The power surges killed my surge protector and dsl router but only wounded my desktop, so I spent the rest of the morning running errands around that.
January 5, 2008 (Sa)
In: 0715
1st Wave: n/a
Out: Noon
Wave count: n/a
AT= 49 - 54 degrees
WT= 53 degrees at the farshore buoy
Wx: Wind moderate and rain showers, sometimes heavy
Tide: 5.66 High, Falling to 1.5
Wind: E at 2 mph to South @ 12 mph
Sea Surface: Storm surf
Buoy: NWS
0600: 30 @ 19 W
0700: 32 @ 17 W
0800: 30 @ 19 W
0900: 27 @ 16 W
1000: 23 @ 17 W
1100: no data
1200: 25 @ 15 W
Waves: 37'-46' @ 17 seconds (Far shore buoy approx. ave.) Storm Surf Buoy Model